Doc Hastings

I advise my friend from Arizona I have no further speakers, and I'm prepared to yield back if he is.

I'm very pleased to yield 4 minutes to the author of this legislation, the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop).

I have no further requests. If the gentleman from Arizona is prepared to yield back, I'm prepared to yield back.

I'm very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Chaffetz), the sponsor of this legislation.

The majority of Americans support expanded offshore energy production and this Committee will not give up on our efforts to remove government barriers that block access to our Nation's energy resources.

House Republicans are committed to advancing legislation that will open up new offshore areas to energy production and create new American jobs.

President Obama's current plan doesn't open one new area for leasing and energy production.

The United States is producing more oil and natural gas than ever before.

Our domestic oil production is at a 20-year high and natural gas production is at an all-time high.

The increase in production on State and private lands only further highlights the missed opportunities on Federal lands.

Our Nation deserves better than the President's current offshore energy plan.

I am struck by how many people, liberal luminaries, say they believe in evolution and then spend the rest of their life trying to prevent it.

We have preserved some species, but I would tell you we can do so much better than we have if people would get off their ideological horses.

I was shocked, as I am sure you would have been, if you had been trying to reach out on both sides of the aisle.

State, local, and tribal governments, and many private landowners not only care about species conservation, they're doing it now.

Interior's settlements were negotiated and signed without state or local input, and with little regard for ongoing their conservation efforts.

The same litigious groups that routinely criticize the federal government's failure to meet ESA listing or critical habitat deadlines are the same groups that are quick to claim that the status quo ESA successfully protects species.

The Endangered Species Act (ESA), a law that has not been reauthorized by Congress for 25 years.

The same litigious groups that routinely criticize the Federal Government's failure to meet ESA listing or critical habitat deadlines are the same groups that are quick to claim that the status quo ESA successfully protects species.

The ESA has been used as a tool for litigation, and how skillful lawyers are benefiting much more than species.

The intent of today's hearing is to highlight specific examples of how species benefit from the work of State, local, and tribal entities.

I hope that belief is true, then. You're waiting, I guess. So if the gentleman is prepared to close, I reserve the balance of my time, as I have one more speaker left.

If I may inquire, did I hear that my friend from New Jersey has only one speaker left?

I'm very pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Hurt).

I'm very pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Montana, another member of the Natural Resources Committee, Mr. Daines.